Susan Boyle: ‘Music has always been my escape’

Susan Boyle talks about dealing with fame after being launched into the spotlight on Britain’s Got Talent.

Your debut album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ broke the world record for pre-orders before its release last month. How did that feel?
“You don’t get that every lifetime, do you? After 23 years of wanting and waiting to make a record, I kept expecting someone to say, ‘Haha love, we’re kidding.’ I’ve waited so long to become a professional singer and now it’s finally become real.”

Has success changed you?
“I used to be a kind of spectator looking outwards at the world, but now I feel like I’m part of the world. Although I found it frightening to begin with, I now embrace it because I feel more confident with myself and more able to be part of that dream.”

What was it like when you were growing up?
“Singing was the one thing I was good at. Music was my escape. I could be who I wanted to be. Even at 13, I would see people singing on the TV and wanted to be in that position and entertain people.”

How big an influence was your mum Bridget (who died in 2007)?
“She was the reason I pursued my singing. She was the reason I became a member of choirs and sang in wee clubs. She had belief that I could do it. We’d seen a soloist singing on the TV just before she passed away and I said, ‘Is that what you want me to do, mum?’ and she said, ‘Yes’. My father passed away 10 years ago and his own dream of becoming a singer is coming true through me so I think he’d be proud.”

You have also been influenced by the church?
“The church has always been my friend in the times where I was being bullied, where I felt lonely, when I lost my mother and it helped me through it. The album itself is a like a reflection of my whole life.”

You love the Fifties as a decade. Why is that?
“It was the clothing. It was the way that people were. Ladies were ladies and the men, gentlemen, of course. It was all about Frank Sinatra and the crooners and Bill Hailey.”

What has been the best thing about success?
“The variety of people I’ve met is brilliant. Life is now much more calm. I’m not so lonely now and not so cooped up, I’m part of the world and I find it really exciting.”

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